I tried to argue already in my first post on the Ruins of Ani [here] that there are many parallels between the city’s history and Game of Thrones. Somehow (real) history has always been about thrones and many wars and schemes to get them: When King Gagik I. of Ani died in 1020 AD after prosperous years, his two sons fought about his throne. By birthright his oldest son, Hovhannes-Smbat III., became the righteous King of Ani. But his younger brother Ashot instigated a rebellion against him, marched his army to and besieged Ani until he captured the city and became king himself. Afterwards the brothers agreed on a compromise. Hovhannes-Smbat III. returned as King of Ani, Ashot became the king of many provinces. They still fought each other very often, other vasalls also rebelled and thus weakened the big Armenian Kingdom.

In 1040 Ashot’s son Gagik II. became the official heir to the throne, but he first had to defeat the Byzantines. Those had other plans and already stood by the walls of Ani. Gagik II. killed 20,000 Byzantine soldiers. After that he also defeated the Seljuks, whose hordes the Armenian people were very afraid of. But the Byzantines were clever and invited the king to Constaninople in 1045 under the pretence of negotiating a peacy treaty. When Gagik II. arrived, they forced him to abdicate. But since he didn’t consent, they put him into prison. Thus, the Armenian Kingdom lacked a leader. The patriarch didn’t like any of several candidates so that eventually Ani subjected to Byzantium’s rule.

Cathedral of Ani

The Seljuks captured Ani in 1065 and slaughtered most of its inhabitants. More than 50,000 were enslaved. Ani belonged sometimes to Muslim dynasties, sometimes to the Christian Georgians for nearly 200 years. The Mongols invaded in 1236 and carried out a massacre. Then in 1380 Tamerlane and his Golden Horde arrived. Later on Persians ruled Ani until they handed the city over to the Ottoman Empire in 1579. At that time Ani had long paled into insignificance. Additionaly to the wars, there also were heavy earthquakes and other natural disasters. Today the city has been uninhabited for nearly 300 years.

It is safe to assume that the rulers’ and their opponents’ relation(ship)s played a big part, and there were probably many more bad schemes to gain power over Ani. The large numbers of dead and enslaved people speak for themselves. Fantasy books and films/series often dip into the past of the ancient and medieval worlds. When I did some research about Ani’s history – this is something I’m very fascinated by – I also came across so many other interesting events. I’m sure writers of fantasy fiction could easily use them for their stories. It’s a pity that dragons didn’t play any role in the fall of Ani. But then again I’m right now watching only season three of Game of Thrones and don’t know yet what is going to happen with King’s Landing. The dragons are still young. On the other hand, I am glad that when I walked through the ruins of Ani, I was rather hazy about its history because for my liking there are a few too many clearly visible torture scenes in Game of Thrones.